Made to Murder, Crafted to Kill, Designed to Die
by theinsaneone666
Summary: Katniss Everdeen finds that the discovery of a human life in a place where life was written off ages ago turns her world upside down. In the Arena once more, she faces odds that are higher than ever, and they're not in her favour. Fighting a internal moral battle, she has to save someone who must be saved, yet has to die.


**Chapter One – The Boy**

**This is my first Hunger Games fic and my second story overall. I dreamed this story (literally!) one night and it's all just kind of fell I into place now. Hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I own no part of the Hunger Games. This FanFiction is non-profit and written for entertainment only.**

**Katniss's P.O.V.**

The sun is shining when I reach the rocky ledge were Gale and I meet to hunt. There's a cool breeze that flows through the Meadow, making it pleasant, for without the wind, it would be unbearably hot. There are few clouds in the sky, so the sun beats heavily down on the exposed landscape. Gale's already, as always when I reach the ledge. He greets me with a smile. I sit down next to him and take off my quiver of arrows, and lay my bow on top of them.

"You ready to go?" he asks excitedly "'Cos I've just seen a good-sized deer wander through the thicket. I'm not the best of shots so I thought I'd leave it to you."

My attention is captured immediately.

"Deer?" I ask disbelievingly "No way. There's been no deer round here for months. You know that. They went to just beyond District 13."

"But there's one here. One we can't afford to miss" he argues.

I know he's right. District 12 isn't exactly well off now from mine and Peeta's winning of the Hunger Games last year. People are still starving, still dying and still living on the edge, with a false hope that things will get better. I make my decision.

"Alright" I say "Fine, I'll go for the deer. But if there isn't one, then you owe me bread"

I'm joking about the last part. Gale and I always bet with bread whenever we disagree because it's so nice and hard to get a decent loaf. But that doesn't stop him agreeing.

"Fine" he answers, a look of pure glee in his eyes "We can worry about that later. I want to get that deer."

He hoists me to my feet after getting up himself with a hand, and I pick up my bow and shoulder my quiver. He jumps down off the ledge and I follow. Together we move in to the trees and bushes of the forest that surrounds the Meadow.

It's dark and quiet, with very few rays of sunlight shining through. The light that does is dappled and unevenly spread out. The air is damp and humid.

"_Perfect area for a deer to hide but not to get food" _I think to myself.

We trudge along the ground for longer, around bushes and over the trunks and branches of fallen trees. We travel deeper and deeper into the forest. Finally we find some sign of deer. Droppings.

"See?" whispers Gale, a smug look on his face "Told you so"

I playfully punch his arm and tell him to shut up. He can be so annoying sometimes. He laughs quietly and motion s to move on.

For what seems like half an hour later, we are still following deer droppings, but there's no sign of the deer.

"Gale" I say "Where is this deer of yours? Because I don't see it."

""Shh" he whispers "Look."

I look to where his finger points in the distance. And what I see totally shocks me. I am staring at the unmistakeable antlers of a truly magnificent stag. It stands tall; at least six and a half foot, and is so well built I can literally see the power of it when it moves. There's enough meat on it to feed District 12 for a month. I'm not joking. The price I can fetch for it or what I can barter with is astronomical. I am in awe.

"Oh my god" I breathe "This isn't real. I'm dreaming."

"You're not" says Gale "Now just shoot it. That's a lot of food there for everyone."

I nod dumbly, still in disbelief. I'm already thinking of how good it's going to taste, and my mouth instinctively starts to water. I swallow hastily and focus on the task in hand. But something stops me.

"How are we going to get a beast like that back to home?" I ask quietly.

Gale looks at me for a moment, then answers.

"I'll carry it back" he answers as if it's the simplest answer in the world.

"Gale, we are a least half an hour from home. How are you going to do that?"

"You'll see. Now just shoot the deer."

I sigh, but still draw an arrow from the quiver. I slot the back onto the string of my bow and pull it back so the string is taunt. Adjusting the grip so the arrow can release without disturbance, I look towards where the deer stands. It is eating a few shoots from the ground. But it looks up slightly as if it knows something's going to happen. It sniffs slightly. I can hear Gale breathing heavily in anticipation. I give him a cold look and he gets the message and shuts up. I look back to the deer. Just as I do it's eyes find mine and they lock. They widen slightly and I know it's instincts are screaming for it to run. But it never does as my arrow heads home and goes straight through the left eye and pierces it's brain, ending it's life. It falls to the ground with a _thump_. I look at it a little longer and release a breath I didn't realise I was holding. I jump suddenly as Gale whoops and laughs.

"Oh yeah" he exclaims "Oh boy this is great! Great shot Katniss, great shot! How do you do it? I mean shoot so good?"

"I don't know" I say modestly "I think that it may be because my father taught me and apparently he was the best there was."

"Yeah, probably" Gales says dreamily, staring off into the distance "But we've got to move this deer. And to answer your earlier question, I am going to carry it but no the way we came. I believe that the Fence is only a little way that way, just behind the Victor's Village."

"What?!" I say loudly "There's a hole in the Fence by my home and I don't know about it?"

My family and I moved in to the Victor's Village with Peeta when Peeta and I won the Hunger Games last year. It's nice but it all seems to be tinged with a Capitol touch. The lights are a little too bright, the colours a little too rich, the perfumes and toiletries a little too strong. Or maybe that's just me. My mother and Prim like it so that's all that matters.

Gale has hoisted the deer with a few grunts onto his back. I knew he was strong but not that strong. The deer's at least 230lbs. And Gale's carrying it as if it's 120lbs.

"Let's got then eh?" he asks.

I nod and we walk towards the Fence, with him telling me where to go. I clear the way for him to make the journey easier for him. It takes only twenty minutes.

"A big difference to the time it took to track it" I say teasingly, knowing it will annoy him.

"Well that's not my fault is it? I only followed the deer" says his exasperated voice, wheezing slightly.

I laugh to myself, trying to hide it from him but he sees me.

"What?" he asks quizzically.

"Nothing."

By this time we have reached the fence. It's bolted down and there's no hole in it that I can see. I whip round and face Gale.

"There's no hole" I say accusingly.

"Not _yet_" Gale corrects me "Go to my back pocket, there's a pair of wire-cutters."

I go and retrieve the wire-cutters.

"And I'm going to cut the Fence, right?"

"Well I can't, can I?" comes his sarcastic reply.

I roll my eyes and walk to the Fence. Most of the time it's not electrified, but you can't be too sure. As I near, I listen intently for the sound of it humming. There is none. That means I can't be burnt to ashes when I cut it.

I place the cutters at the bottom of the Fence and methodically snip each wire holding it to the ground. Then I move on to cutting even chunks out of the wire so there's enough room to move under and so when we put it back, it's seems whole. I lift the wire up to see how far the gap can rise to. I can easily walk under it if I crouched so I was half my height. But I'm not sure if Gale and the deer can go under together.

"There we go. Now get to the other side" I say to him.

He looks at me as if to say _"There's no way I'm getting under that with this on my back."_

"Stop being a tart and go" I laugh.

He sighs and moves towards the Fence. As he nears it he moves further and further down with the deer on his back until he literally is walking while squatting. The sight is so funny I can't help but laugh. He crouches down further and scoots himself under the Fence. By this time, I am in hysterics, tears of laughter rolling down my cheeks.

"Jesus!" he says "That was hard. And you didn't make it any easier by laughing!"

I try to say sorry but I'm choking from laughing so hard. Instead I try to say so with my eyes. It must have worked because he gets the message.

"Alright," he says "I guess it was kind of funny."

I nod, cough and then breathe deeply to compose myself.

"Okay… we can't leave the deer in my house so where do we go?" I say.

Gale nods in agreement then says "We're going to have to put it with Greasy Sae. She's the only one we can trust to carve it up and not nick any parts."

I nod. "Let's go then."

We trudge down the dirty roads to the Hob. It's still early morning so not many people are out. Within ten minutes we are at Greasy Sae's door. I knock three times loudly. There are a couple of moments silent then the door opens to reveal Greasy Sae herself.

"What is it you want child, at this time of day?" she grumbles.

"We need you to hide one of our kills" I say "You're the only person we trust."

I wave to Gale to come over and show her the deer. When she sees it her jaw drops.

"How did you get that?" she asks, her voice barely above a whisper and laced with disbelief.

"I shot it," I say "And we need you to hide it for us."

She stands there, staring at us for a long while, obviously deciding to make up her mind. Finally she looks at me full in the face and nods.

"I'll do it," she says "But if the Peacekeepers find out… well I won't be here to do this kind of thing anymore"

I look at her worried face and answer.

"Then we'll make sure that they _never _find out"

She smiles at me and motions to Gale to move the deer inside. He deposits it onto her butchering table. Greasy Sae makes sure it won't rot and we leave the room were we put it. I take some money out of my pocket and press it to her palm. She looks up at me with questioning eyes.

"For taking the deer for us" I say.

She nods her head and we leave. As we trudge back to the crossroad that separates the Victor's Village and part of the well-off side of town with the Seam and the not-so-well-off, I turn to Gale.

"What happens if she gets found out?" I ask him.

My eyes must be evidently filled with worry, because he hesitates before he answers.

"The Peacekeepers will get her… and she'll be…" his voice trails off and he looks away.

I nod dumbly and look to the ground. This has to stop. We are putting innocent people in danger of being killed or tortured because our people need the meat and game we hunt to survive. But those same people would arguer that we take the same risks to get the food for them, to make sure that they don't starve. But I still feel bad for putting them in that position.

By this time we have reached the crossroads. I turn to Gale and say goodbye.

"Thank you for finding that deer," I add "It's going to help a lot of people."

"I know," he answers "I know… goodbye Katniss."

And with that he leaves. I watch his retreating back as he takes the long walk back to his home. I watch until he disappears completely from my view.

I turn towards the direction I have to go to return home, and walk. It takes me half an hour, and when I arrive I bump into Peeta. The boy with the bread looks at me with wide eyes.

"Hello…" he says, uncertainty in his voice.

I don't blame him for being uncertain, nervous or having no idea how to be when he's around me. What I did to him in the arena of the Games. How I toyed with his feelings to make sure we both stayed alive. How I pretended we were star-crossed lovers, when to him we really were. It is my fault for what happened to him and what I went through. So, it was a bit of good luck that Peeta decided after two months of not speaking to me or leaving his room that we could still remain friends and keep up the lovers' pretence for the Capitol and President Snow so they couldn't arrest us for disobeying and humiliating the Capitol.

"Hi" I say back in a whisper. I want nothing more now than to embrace him and tell him how so, so, so sorry I am. But he won't let me I know it. And do you know what the most ironic thing is. I love the boy with the bread.

"I've got to go to the bakery," he mumbles, obviously sensing the awkwardness between us "My father and brothers need help with the bread-making and the frosting of the cakes."

I nod to him.

"Okay… catch you later I guess?"

"I guess" he says "Bye"

"Bye" I say.

I move out of his way and he walks down the road. I turn back to the row of magnificent, elaborately designed houses the Victors of the Games live in, and walk towards mine. My mother and Prim live with me, for I couldn't leave them behind at the Seam. They happily left, after some tear-filled goodbyes to our friends and neighbours there. We then packed and left for the Village.

We've lived there for nine months now. This means the next Games are only three months away. And I'll have to mentor, along with Peeta and Haymitch, two unfortunate tributes to be murdered in the Games. I know this will happen. There's no other alternative.

I reach the door and open it. Walking inside, I wipe my feet on the mat and close the door. The brown leather hunting jacket is hung up on the peg and the snug black boots kicked off. I walk to the luxuriously huge lounge, and slump down on the sofa. Suddenly, a loud cry makes me jump.

"Katniss!"

A small bundle of whirling colours flies towards me and then collides with me. It hugs me tight and tries to burrow itself into my skin.

"Prim!" I complain exasperatedly "You've got to stop doing that. What would your friends at school say?"

She doesn't rise to my teasing, instead carrying on with trying to hug me tighter. I return the gesture and prise her hands from my back.

"Come on" I say "We've got to get ready for the Viewing."

The Viewing is an event that happens one month before the next Hunger Games. It shows the wreckage and remains of District 13 while the President Snow and his Consul talk about the Dark Days, and the Hunger Games were born to prevent rebellion in the Districts ever again. But what I think, no – know- is that they use it to make us suffer for attempting to end the cruelty they inflicted on us. But we could never say that in public. No. They'd kill my family, everyone I love, then me.

I take Prim's hand and walk her to my mother. My mother has taken the trouble, like every year, to lay out our clothes for us. She gestures my clothes to me as she knows I like to get dressed alone. I say thank you and head to my bedroom.

My outfit for the Viewing is a beautiful, sparkling dress. It's been sequined with tiny precious diamonds and although I'm not that kind of person, I can't help but love it. In no time at all, I am dressed and am making my way downstairs. When I see my mother and Prim, I gasp. They are wearing dresses that are alike to mine, except that Prim's is studded with rubies and my mother's with opals. My mother smiles at me.

"You look beautiful" she says.

I nod, tears swimming in my eyes. I can't believe that I treated her so harshly when my father died. She knows I'm going through the same thing, yet she hasn't ignored me, like I did to her. She's tried to make my life as easy as possible. I run to her on my matching high heels and throw myself into her arms. She catches me by surprise.

"What?" she asks "What is it?"

"Nothing" I whisper into her ear "Just… thank you… for everything… even though I … I treated you badly."

I can't continue and I cry into her shoulder. She pats my back soothingly and holds me steady. After some time, I pull back and sniff. She wipes my eyes with a tissue and smiles at me.

"Can't have our little champion with blotchy eyes in front of the camera, can we?" she says kindly.

I give her a watery smile and compose myself. I have shocked myself, for I hardly ever cry.

"Let's go" I say.

We leave our house and meet Peeta on the way out. He's dressed in a suit that, like mine, sparkles with diamonds. We have to still present a united front to the Capitol, and the Districts, that we are still madly in love. That's no easy task, considering that I hurt his feelings badly and he thinks I don't love, and that what we do is all for show. Even though I do love him. He just doesn't know. Because I haven't told him.

He smiles at me and pulls me into a kiss that's a show for the cameras. I respond, but try to put as much genuine love into it as possible. But I don't seem to make him notice. Perhaps he thinks I was just doing it for the cameras as well. We break apart and go to the Square.

While we walk I think about the state of Panem. After the stunt we pulled off in the Arena, many people in the Districts thought that if we could defy the Capitol, then so could they. Uprisings were happening all over the country and President Snow had paid a visit to me to tell me to calm the Districts during mine and Peeta's Victory Tour. I failed. Peeta wasn't part of it, because he wasn't the one who pulled the berries out. I was. And Snow anted me dead for it. I am now living in the constant fear that Snow has something horrible planned for me and everyone I love.

We reach the Square and stand in the allocated area for Victors and their families. Once upon a time, when I was a little girl, only Haymitch sat here. Now me, Peeta and our families join him. It takes half an hour for everyone in District 12 to join us, but eventually we all sit and wait for the four huge screens that cover the each side of the Square to flicker to life. We have one right in front of us. The screen flickers, fuzzes, then it splits in two; one side showing the Capitol Consul and President Snow; the other showing a view of the smouldering remains of District 13. The camera showing District 13 moves around, allowing us to see all of it. No-one really knows what happens there so whenever there's something that's going on there, an animal fight or animals running say, the cameras follow it.

At this point President Snow has risen off his podium and begun to speak.

"People of the Great Nation of Panem, you are hear to watch the annual Viewing, to remind you all of the Dark Days and the dangers rebellion causes. Your ancestors chose to rebel against a peaceful, content, stable society…"

By this time I have tuned his words out and am now fully focused on the screen showing the view of District 13. the camera skims over the landscape, taking in the smouldering rocks and ruins. It looks like a really depressing place.

The camera hovers over the area longer, focusing one a few mockingjays that fly overhead. It zooms out and it's then that I notice a blur of movement in the far right of the screen, in the distance. The cameraman must have seen it as well, as the ground flies by at a speed and focuses on the source of the movement.

It turns out to be a small herd of deer that are running pretty fast. I recognise them immediately, for I occasionally hunt them; they're pronghorn antelopes, and they run at ridiculously fast speeds. One scientist from the Capitol suggested it was from years ago that the deer used to run away from predators that were fast, such as the now long extinct American cheetah. The deer now run at over ninety kilometres per hour because of this. There's a huge male buck, obviously the head of the herd, then a smaller buck, a doe and her foal.

The deer continue running and they run towards a terrain that makes me cringe. It's filled with jagged rocks, all looking lethal and deadly sharp. A fallen side of a building wall juts out, rising gently at an angle to a height that I can only estimate to be one hundred foot. Anyone jumping off that would die. As the deer near the beginning of this treacherous passageway, I notice what's chasing them. It's a brown bear running at full stretch.

Now, I know that on level ground, the deer will easily outstrip the bear. But on a terrain which they're now on, it's slows them right down. And that's when the bear will catch them.

But it's what is behind the bear makes me and everyone else in the whole of Panem, for every District is watching the same thing, gasp, for no person could ever live in a place so dangerous.

Behind the bear, running at a constantly accelerating speed that _should _be humanly impossible, for they are gaining on the deer and the bear, is a young boy, no older than me.

**Please review! It really helps!**


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